BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Merger of area accounting firms

canfield

Packer Thomas, a regional certified public accounting and business consulting firm, recently announced its merger with Anness, Gerlach and Williams, CPAs.

Packer Thomas was founded in 1923, has more than 75 employees and serves domestic and international clients out of its Canfield and New Castle, Pa., offices.

Anness, Gerlach and Williams, founded in 1984, employs 17 people and is based in Boardman.

Housing starts fell 2.6 percent in April

WASHINGTON

Construction of new homes fell for a second- straight month in April, pushing activity to the lowest point in five months.

Housing starts fell 2.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That followed a 6.6 percent decline in March and left home building at its lowest point since November. The weakness was led by a big drop in construction of apartments, a volatile sector.

Nevertheless, housing construction has been one of the bright spots for the economy. Analysts expect that the number of Americans seeking homes will rebound in the coming months, driven by strong employment gains and low unemployment.

Teen-clothing retailer rue21 restructuring

CRANBERRY, Pa.

Pennsylvania-based teen- clothing retailer rue21 is restructuring and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection about a month after announcing it would close roughly 400 stores to focus on online sales.

The company announced last month that it is shuttering the stores, leaving it with more than 700 stores in 48 states.

The company based in Cranberry, north of Pittsburgh, announced Tuesday that its bankruptcy filing accompanies agreements with lenders to restructure some debt and obtain more capital.

Pipeline disputes owing more for harm to historic Ohio sites

CANTON, Ohio

A natural-gas pipeline project across Ohio hasn’t honored an agreement to pay for harm done to historic properties, the State Historic Preservation Office said.

The Rover Pipeline agreed to pay $1.5 million annually for five years but hasn’t made the first payment, which was due two months ago, the Repository in Canton reported. Rover previously paid $2.3 million for razing a historic home in Carroll County before notifying regulators.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission now has jurisdiction over the project and has been asked to handle the dispute.

Staff/wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Alcoa Inc., .1232.160.13

Aqua America, .71 31.62-0.14

Avalon Holdings,2.52-0.16

Chemical Bank, .2746.92-0.30Community Health Sys. 9.81 -0.38

Cortland Bancorp, .2818.50-0.25

Farmers Nat., .1614.400.00

First Energy, 1.44 28.69-0.24

Fifth/Third, .5224.900.26

FirstMerit Corp.,0.000.37

First Niles Financial, .1210.500.00

FNB Corp., .4814.11-0.07

General Motors, 1.5233.42-0.40

General Electric, .9228.04-0.14

Huntington Bank, .28 13.040.09

iHeartMedia Inc.,2.180.12

JP Morgan Chase, 1.9287.610.27

Key Corp, .3418.540.13

LaFarge, .34--

Macy’s, 1.51 22.82-0.39

Parker Hannifin, 2.52 156.47-0.06

PNC, 2.20122.620.48

Simon Prop. Grp., 6.60154.13-2.03

Stoneridge 17.50-0.02

United Comm. Fin., .12 8.380.01

Selected prices from Wednesday’s 4 p.m. close.